Log Title:
Be Careful
Characters:
Dajan and Sandman
IC Date:
February 8, 2012
Location:
Grapevine Cafe
Brief log summary::
Sandman meets Dajan at the cafe and apologizes and offers advice
Rating:
pg
There is no TS in this log::
Yes
Post your log::
It is late evening in New York City and the now fully recovered Avengers, Sandman has opted to finally head out alone, having spent most of his recovery time shut in at the mansion or with his fellow Avengers. Downtime alone is good. So he opts to head to the Grapevine. Once he is there the workers are somewhat uneasy around him as he heads to the counter. The last time he was here, the place was literally torn apart and only recently rebuilt. Sighing loudly and going to the counter, the Avengers dressed in his usual green and black shirt with brown trousers and a brown overcoat asks to speak to the owner. Removing his hat, the owner approached tentatively.
Dajan has been exploring the new neighborhood. By jogging. Because Monet doesn't have a dog. And she has to start building up her stamina somehow, now that she's gotten the idea in her head that moving to New York means that the universe somehow 'sees' her as a mutant, which means she's going to need to get in better shape than she's in.
But it's late, now, and much to her elation, the Grapevine serves chicory coffee, her favorite — and hard to come by in New York. She pauses at the doorway to stretch, unmindful of the crowd, then slowly makes her way toward the counter, covering a yawn
The owner walks out holding a newspaper which favors the recent hijinks of the Thing and Sandman. Pausing a moment as if looking afraid, he starts to laugh out loud, “You are very funny.” He comes out from behind the counter and shakes Sandman’s hand, “It is good that you are in your right mind.” Sandman smiles and offers his apology for what happened and that the Maria Stark Foundation will cover the costs to rebuild the place. The owner nods, “Better to see you playing with the Thing than fighting him.” Which is what lead to the destruction of the original coffee house. With that he offers Sandman a free cup of coffee, which he accepts. He moves aside to let the next customer order which happens to be Dajan, “Oh hey.”
Dajan replies, "Oh, hey," back, only glancing up from her pondering whether she wants a snack with her coffee at the last second. So it is a second before she realizes who she's addressing. Blink blink. The gulp is not audible, nor is it visible under her scarf, but her wide eyes are. "…um," she manages, then adds, "Good to hear you're uh, doin' better?"
Looming over the small teen, Sandman offers a smile, “Yes, I am doin’ better. How are you doin’?” He gestures to the owner who he nods telling the barista that Dajan’s order is also to be free. With another smiles, Sandman continues, “Free order. Lest I can do for the scare I gave you at the Empire State Building. Mind if I join you?”
Dajan straightens a little, reminded of that whole night and all the aggravation and stress it caused her. But Monet has ingratiated herself, and as far as she knows, Sandman was having some sort of technical difficulties. "I'm doin' okay, thank you," she says politely, manners too deeply drilled into her to do anything but smile her thanks at the free coffee. "Um, sure, if you like, sir." She finds a booth toward a corner, suspecting that even though the owner is convivial, perhaps he'd like a bit less attention anyway.
“Sure.” Sandman heads to the table and holds out Dajan’s seat and gestures for her to sit first. Once she does, he follows suit. A waiter brings them their order and he sips his coffee testing its warmth. Pleased, he sips more. Looking up to Dajan, “So did any trouble arise when that girl outed you as a mutant?” This is said when the waiter leaves and far enough from the other customers so he can carry on the conversation.
Dajan is charmed by the gentlemanly gesture. What she'd known of Sandman before meeting him had been very little. A frantic Googling of him had really been eye-opening. "Um, no, sir," Dajan says, warming her hands on her coffee cup. "After the whole thing, and her doing that, um, maneuver—" A more mundane way to describe 'psi-blast' — "I was too mad to hear her tell me she hadn't done anything wrong. We've kinda patched things up a little since then, and I'm her roommate now." Dajan's expression indicates she's still not entirely sure how that worked out the way it did, and she's possibly worrying about another shoe dropping.
Blinking a moment, "Well, I guess that is a good way to make it up to you, I suppose. Free housin' is good.
And from what I remember she is some famous model or royalty or somethin'. Aside from bein' a top notch mutant. I have actually seen her in action…Plus she did manage to take me out. So I am slightly impressed as long as she loses the attitude.” Sandman grins, “So roommates then. Good. So I never formally introduced myself. Sandman, and you are?” He extends his hand to shake hers, “But my friends call me, Bill.”
Dajan shrugs in response to the Sandman's reaction, unable to help the wry grin that she finds growing on her own face. "Yeah, that was my reaction too. I wasn't sure she didn't have somethin' up her sleeve. But she doesn't seem to." She nods in response to his admission. "Only saw her do anythin' that one time. Only seen her fly since, now I think of it."
She reaches a long, slender-fingered hand over and shakes back — despite having such a dainty hand, she shakes firmly. "I'm Dajan LeDoux, and, well, that's what everybody calls me. Nice to meet you properly."
Nodding his head, he pronounces her name and then jokes, “Is that like mayo or mustard or something.” He grins, “French name, right? I’ve been France it’s nice over there.” Sipping his coffee again, “Yeah, despite your roommate’s attitude. She, I, and Firestar fought some criminals in a museum once. We beat the thugs but the main guy got away. Had some sort of power that automatically counters everyone else’s. Kinda crazy, but she flew and seemed pretty strong. I guess she did the mind telepathy part too. That’s probably how she figured you were a mutant.”
"Never been further away from home than I am right this minute, me. " She takes the opportunity to doctor and sip her coffee as Sandman describes having fought /beside/ Monet rather than /against/ her. "I was thinkin' that too, but she says she can just see it. Little bit unnervin'." This is an understatement by the way Dajan's expression tightens a little.
Sandman hmmmmns, "So what can you do, if you don't mind my askin'? I guess you are not a telepath. So is it somethin' really big and destructive or small and cute." Sandman then laughs, "Gotta be tough out there for mutants nowadays. Not sure how the X-Men still go out there everyday and help everybody the way they do."
"You saw," Dajan points out. "I was that one they were callin' 'Clawed Ninja' on the news last week." She starts to hunch her shoulders, catches herself, and sits up straighter. "The claws're probably the second smallest, cutest thing I do. I kinda change shape dependin' on what the situation calls for." She nods in agreement. "I guess they feel they need to prove there's not really anythin' to be scared of. We all just people, tryin' to get by in the world. We're not all Magneto."
At the idea of the claws and when she mentions he has encountered her in her power usage before.
Sandman grins, "Yep…at the weddin'…I kinda thought that was you. You were there with Black Knight before it started and then were gone, but back later. Some people think that actually works." He grins, "So you know martial arts and can make claws. What are you, Wolverine's kid?” He laughs, "Well, good thin' you hooked up with that model chick…but you might want to check out the X-Men and there is some sort of mutant school somewhere around here. A young friend of mine about your age who can change things by touchin' them…he goes to a school like that.”
"I took some classes at the Y, and a few ol' DVDs from the library," Dajan adds. Shaking her head, and holding up her hand. "Nope, my folks were married, and my mom was sure not married to Wolverine." She shrugs at her weak ruse. "Well, I'd ruined the scarf and my gloves, but I didn't have a whole outfit to change into, so yeah, a pro like you of course would notice."
"Rilly? A mutant school?" She repeats. "I'll ask her about it. I mean, I knew the X-Men were mutants, but it's not like you could just bump into one on the street and ask to join up."
The owner brings her a really huge blondie, and Dajan beams at him. "Saw you eyein' it," he tells her, "And this late, it woulda got thrown away so we could bake more for the morning."
"Thanks," Dajan beams up at him. He retreats back and she uses her fork to break it in half, offering Sandman the other half.
When the owner heads back out, “Yeah, if I run into any of the X-Men or see Tommy, I’ll see about gettin’ more information on the school.” He waves his thanks to owner for the blondie and then leans back in his chair, “But overall, just be careful. It is tough for mutants and this city is full of haters and evil doers. You did good at the wedding, but you might want to avoid jumpin’ into any old battle. One of my friends recently died in a battle against Mole Man. Good kid too. He was young…or well…he seemed young anyway.”
"Thank you, sir," Dajan says politely as he makes an offer to put her in touch with the heavy hitters of the
mutant community. "And yeah, it is," she agrees after taking a bite of blondie and a fast train to bliss face. "And it's not like I go lookin', honest. Stuff just keeps /happenin'/ around me." She nods at his description of the one killed at the Mole Man battle. "Yeah. I was there for that too. I didn't know him, but Mr. Grimm did." She smiles weakly, and mentions, in hope of changing the subject, "I ended up freeze-rayed. That is the kinda thing you think only happens on cartoons until it happns to you yourself."
Nodding his head and maintaining a few seconds of silence for Cytoplasm, he sips his coffee, “I’l have to talk to Ben about that. Though I have seen that kid survive being sliced in half, plus the big wigs at the Baxter Buildin’ can put him back together.” Sandman offers a moment of hope before changing the subject all together,”So aside from the claws what else can you change into? Are you like a complete morpher or just body parts?”
"Wow, I sure hope they can," Dajan says, though her tone indicates she thinks that Ben is responsible for hanging the moon — little doubt he and the Fantastic Four will fail to help the one who was so badly injured. "Um, not sure, really," she admits, spreading her hands. "My family was — really strict about us not showin' off. So I only got good at a couple little things. I can also change the actual biological shape of my ears to improve my hearin'. Y'know. Lil changes, mainly. I've never had a reason to try changin' my whole body for anythin'."
“Well that can be a very useful trick in times of trouble. It seems like you are on track, but you might want to develop your skills. Check out the mutant school thin’ and talk to your roommate. What’s her name? She is famous right?” Sandman asks as he tries to remember, “I think I Saw her in some magazines or somethin’”
"Monet," Dajan clarifies. "Monet St. Croix." She makes a mental note to look up the magazines, especially in light of Monet having pointedly mentioned she turned down Cosmo. "And, yeah, that's the plan. I get this feelin' like I got the universe's attention or somethin', now, so I'mma have to be in tip-top shape. I'm not exactly sure what-all I can do myself, so I guess I'll have to see about maybe testin' it with one of …" she still can't believe she gets to say it in a sentence, "The X-Men or somebody if they're feelin' like they wanna give me a hand with it."
“Well, I don’t think kids like yourself should be on teams like that, but we’ll see. There is also the New Warriors. FIrestar, a mutant, is also a member and I have been impressed by her. She fought at the weddin’ too. I’ll see what I can do, but in the meantime, just be safe.” Sandman says that will concern and almost demands it, but respectfully.
Dajan has to fight the urge to pout. Everybody treats her like a kid, because she's polite, and because she's new to the mutant thing, but she is almost twenty. "Saw 'er," Dajan confirms. "She seems nice. I been doin' okay up 'til now with mostly keepin' my head down. I expect I'll keep doin' okay with Monet lookin' out for me, since she's like not just a Princess, but, like, also, indestructible too."
“Well, she is good. Very good in fact, but she is not the best. She couldn’t beat the guy at the museum. Then again neither could I or Firestar. But definitely befriendin’ her is a step in the right direction. Plus you and Black Knight seem pretty buddy buddy, so that’s good too.” Sandman offers.
Dajan nods, "Already asked her to train me, martial arts wise," she explains. "Gotta be able to defend myself in the regular way, until I learn what else I can do, an' get good enough to use it comfortably." She starts to say something else, but Sandman's mention of the Black Knight causes her faintly under her freckles.
"Oh, well, that was just the day we met," she points out. "Dumb luck, like I said." She seems completely at peace with the idea of keeping Black Knight's identity secret. There's no obvious burning desire to blab it. Must be that strict uprbinging she mentioned.
Smiling “Well, Dajan. Nice to meetcha.” Sandman stands up and gestures to the owner to remind him that the orders were free. The owner nods, “Gotta head back to the mansionand report for duty. Life of an Avenger and whatnot…who knows maybe one day we will be teammates.” He smiles as he starts to exit, ‘And remember what I said…be careful.”
Dajan's mouth drops open at the mere suggestion that she could be an Avenger one day. She catches herself, though. "Oh. Um, thank you for the snack. And likewise, nice to meet you too." She watches him go. "I'll be careful, sir," she promises, taking her plate and cup to the trash.
